Internation fee

[sonyreaderfan]

I live in the U.S. I accessed the Kobobooks.com and bought an ebook. Looking at my credit card bill later, I see that Visa charge me $0.05 for international service fee. I know Kobo is based in Canada but I thought U.S. can buy books without penalty. Are other U.S. forum members getting the same thing? If so, then that is terrible. That's a hidden tax to buy Kobo ebooks.

[kiwipippa]

Originally Posted by sonyreaderfan

I live in the U.S. I accessed the Kobobooks.com and bought an ebook. Looking at my credit card bill later, I see that Visa charge me $0.05 for international service fee. I know Kobo is based in Canada but I thought U.S. can buy books without penalty. Are other U.S. forum members getting the same thing? If so, then that is terrible. That's a hidden tax to buy Kobo ebooks.

The fee is charged by your credit card company - not kobo. If you use any retailer outside the US in a foreign currency you will be charged conversion fees by your bank. Welcome to the world of international purchasing!

[taming]

Canadians buying from the US saw those kinds of fees routinely. It sure looks like US banks/credit card companies started adding in the charges when the Canadian dollar got stronger as measured against the USD.

[sonyreaderfan]

Originally Posted by kiwipippa

The fee is charged by your credit card company - not kobo. If you use any retailer outside the US in a foreign currency you will be charged conversion fees by your bank. Welcome to the world of international purchasing!

Hmm, I thought when Kobo says that they are an international store they meant that they have localized store presence. If there is a service charge then it's misleading -- you're just buying from their Canada store in your own country. Nowhere when you check out do they tell you that there is this charge. Or did I miss a fine print? Are people in other countries like Australia okay with the hidden fee?

Canadians buying from the US saw those kinds of fees routinely. It sure looks like US banks/credit card companies started adding in the charges when the Canadian dollar got stronger as measured against the USD.

Well, at least you know that the store is in US, because of the .com name, like Amazon.com. I always thought .com name implies US presence. Kobo's .com name is misleading then is it not? I thought it's a website localized in the US. . Why don't they use .co.ca to show they are really localized in Canada?

[kiwipippa]

Actually, I do NOT pay a fee on my kobo transactions. All prices on kobobooks.com are displayed in New Zealand dollars for me, and I am billed in NZ dollars - so there are no foreign exchange rate fees.

Amazon however, charges in US dollars. I'm not sure why kobobooks doesn't charge you in your currency (ie US dollars).

[sonyreaderfan]

They did charge in U.S. currency. But Visa added the International Service Fee. Two separate billings. Weird that happened. I'm going on call Kobo and Visa and find out what happened.

[moffattm]

Originally Posted by sonyreaderfan

Hmm, I thought when Kobo says that they are an international store they meant that they have localized store presence.

By "international" they probably just mean that anyone from any country can purchase ebooks from them. There are plenty of online shops that will only sell to customers from the same country as themselves, and so they're not considered international stores.

Originally Posted by sonyreaderfan

Are people in other countries like Australia okay with the hidden fee?

I'm from New Zealand and we're all pretty much used to having to pay these sort of fees if we want to purchase from foreign companies. They're charged by the credit card companies, not the online store you're buying from. In fact the website you're buying from has absolutely no knowledge that you will be charged a currency conversion fee because each credit card company has their own rules and fee rates. So blaming Kobo isn't really fair since it has nothing to do with them.

Originally Posted by sonyreaderfan

Well, at least you know that the store is in US, because of the .com name, like Amazon.com. I always thought .com name implies US presence. Kobo's .com name is misleading then is it not?

.com was originally intended as being short for "commercial", to differentiate between commercial websites and non-commercial ones (.org, .edu, .net, etc). It isn't unique to the US and many companies outside of the US own .com domain names. I myself own murraymoffatt.com, I purchased it because I wanted to grab it before any other Murray Moffatt's in the world got it.

[robko]

Originally Posted by sonyreaderfan

They did charge in U.S. currency. But Visa added the International Service Fee. Two separate billings. Weird that happened. I'm going on call Kobo and Visa and find out what happened.

.com just implies that it is a "business". It has nothing to do with where the company is located. Many countries have more use of their country domain by their companies (i.e. they use .ca) than the U.S. does.

You can try talking to Kobo about the charge, but the real "culprit" here is Visa. Kobo wouldn't know if you were going to be charged it or not and would get zero from it since it would be something that Visa/your bank is doing. I have seen other U.S. posters complaining about the same thing. Not sure if it is Visa from certain banks or what the "rules" are on it. I can understand how it would be frustrating to get charged the fee (however small) on principle.

edit: beaten to the punch by moffattm ;-)

[sonyreaderfan]

Originally Posted by moffattm

By "international" they probably just mean that anyone from any country can purchase ebooks from them. There are plenty of online shops that will only sell to customers from the same country as themselves, and so they're not considered international stores.

I'm from New Zealand and we're all pretty much used to having to pay these sort of fees if we want to purchase from foreign companies. They're charged by the credit card companies, not the online store you're buying from. In fact the website you're buying from has absolutely no knowledge that you will be charged a currency conversion fee because each credit card company has their own rules and fee rates. So blaming Kobo isn't really fair since it has nothing to do with them.

I still think Kobo is misleading about its international presence. For example, Amazon.com has US presence (Amazon.com) and UK presence (Amazon.co.uk). I'm sure Britons buying a Kindle ebook in UK aren't charged an international service fee. Their transaction is handled in the UK, not in US. Kobo is handling the transactions in Canada only. That's why I'm wondering why couldn't Kobo really present a localized web presence so that there won't be the international service fee charges, if Kobo claims to be an international company.

People in Australia getting charged international service fee for buying stuff from foreign countries know at least knows that they are buying from foreign countries and expect that. Nowhere is Kobo saying in the checkout process, since you're buying in the US, we're a foreign country store.

Kobo is sold prominently in the US. Do people in the US have to realize that they are a foreign country store and that they would be hit with a international service fee when they buy Kobo ebooks? (Do people in Australia realize that before making Kobo ebook purchase?) I think most like me would assume that it would just work like Amazon or Barnes and Noble ebook stores.

[DaleDe]

The US presence is handled by Borders. Buy you reader from borders and your books from borders and you won't have the fee. If you need to buy from Wi-Fi then use the appropriate firmware.

Dale

[PeterT]

Originally Posted by DaleDe

The US presence is handled by Borders. Buy you reader from borders and your books from borders and you won't have the fee. If you need to buy from Wi-Fi then use the appropriate firmware.

Dale

Actually the firmware IS the same. The store that you use for WiFi is controlled by the Desktop application that you have used. If you sync the Kobo with the Borders desktop then the WiFi will go to the Borders web site.

[sonyreaderfan]

Originally Posted by DaleDe

The US presence is handled by Borders. Buy you reader from borders and your books from borders and you won't have the fee. If you need to buy from Wi-Fi then use the appropriate firmware.

Dale

Great thanks! Was not aware of this. I guess if I have to buy books from Kobobooks I'll go to Borders.com instead. What will happen if Borders shuts down in the bankruptcy proceedings...

[bevdeforges]

Originally Posted by sonyreaderfan

I still think Kobo is misleading about its international presence. For example, Amazon.com has US presence (Amazon.com) and UK presence (Amazon.co.uk). I'm sure Britons buying a Kindle ebook in UK aren't charged an international service fee. Their transaction is handled in the UK, not in US. Kobo is handling the transactions in Canada only. That's why I'm wondering why couldn't Kobo really present a localized web presence so that there won't be the international service fee charges, if Kobo claims to be an international company.

People in Australia getting charged international service fee for buying stuff from foreign countries know at least knows that they are buying from foreign countries and expect that. Nowhere is Kobo saying in the checkout process, since you're buying in the US, we're a foreign country store.

Kobo is sold prominently in the US. Do people in the US have to realize that they are a foreign country store and that they would be hit with a international service fee when they buy Kobo ebooks? (Do people in Australia realize that before making Kobo ebook purchase?) I think most like me would assume that it would just work like Amazon or Barnes and Noble ebook stores.

There is nothing misleading about what Kobo is doing. And it's your credit card provider who is making the "foreign transaction charge," not Kobo.

The domain *.com is not restricted to US use. There are zillions of *.com websites located here in Europe, for example.

What has changed at Kobo, however, is that they apparently are being pushed to identify where their customers are coming from in order to comply with geographical restrictions on their books and to properly assess VAT (and probably sales tax in the US). I used to buy books from Kobo on my US credit card with prices denominated in US dollars, no problem. A few months back, though, they changed their system so that those of us in Europe get all prices quoted in euros. I'm not sure if they are going by the billing address on my credit card or my IP address when I make a purchase. (Will test that soon when visiting the US.)

Now, if I use my US credit card to buy books, I get a foreign transaction fee (of 3%!) because they insist on billing me in euros. I have contacted Kobo and there's nothing they can do about it. It's a combination of the geographical restrictions on books and the tax regulations - but the added fees are assessed by your credit card company and not by Kobo.

If I buy books at Kobo using my French credit card, I'll still get assessed a foreign transaction fee because the transaction is coming from North America (doesn't matter whether US or Canada).

FWIW, things work much the same way if you order from a "foreign" Amazon. When I buy through Amazon.co.uk I pay the French VAT - and there are a certain number of items that they will not ship to France. (And if I were buying books for a Kindle I wouldn't be allowed to purchase from the UK Amazon at all!) The publishers don't seem to realize that they are shooting themselves in the foot on the e-books issue. But maybe they'll learn one of these days...

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by sonyreaderfan

Great thanks! Was not aware of this. I guess if I have to buy books from Kobobooks I'll go to Borders.com instead. What will happen if Borders shuts down in the bankruptcy proceedings...

Should that happen you can revert. But the online store is not part of the bankruptcy proceedings anyway. It is doing fine I believe. If there are geographic restrictions the Borders.com is likely a better source. I also find that it is more likely to have a real ePub available. Sometimes the kobo site only seems to have a kepub.

Dale

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by PeterT

Actually the firmware IS the same. The store that you use for WiFi is controlled by the Desktop application that you have used. If you sync the Kobo with the Borders desktop then the WiFi will go to the Borders web site.

Good to know, Thanks. I will be switching my desktop.

Dale